There are many aspects of the great thought on which I cannot touch
even for a moment. For instance, let me remind you how, in a very deep
sense, Jesus Christ is the foundation of the whole of the divine
dealings with us; and how, in another aspect, historically, since the
day on which He appeared on earth, He has more and more manifestly and
completely been the foundation of the whole history of the world. But
passing these aspects, let us rather fix upon those which are more
immediately in the prophet's mind.
Jesus Christ is the foundation laid for all men's security against
every tempest or assault. The context has portrayed the coming of a
tremendous storm and inundation, in view of which this foundation is
laid. The building reared on it then is, therefore, to be a refuge and
an asylum. Have not we all of us, like these scornful men in Jerusalem,
built our refuges on vain hopes, on creatural affections, on earthly
possessions, on this, that, and the other false thing, all of which are
to be swept away when the storm comes? And does there not come upon us
all the blast of the ordinary calamities to which flesh is heir, and
have we not all more or less consciousness of our own evil and
sinfulness; and does there not lie before every one of us at the end of
life that solemn last struggle, and beyond that, as we most of us
believe, a judgment for all that we have done in the body? 'I lay in
Zion for a foundation a stone.' Build upon that, and neither the
tempest of earthly calamities, changes, disappointments, sorrows,
losses, nor the scourge that is wielded because of our sins, nor the
last wild tempest that sweeps a man on the wings of its strong blast
from out of life into the dark region, nor the solemn final retribution
and judgment, shall ever touch us. And when the hail sweeps away the
refuge of lies, and the waters overflow the hiding-place, this
foundation stands sure--
And lo! from sin and grief and shame
I hide me, Jesus, in Thy name.
Brethren, the one foundation on which building, we can build secure,
and safe as well as secure, is that foundation which is laid in the
incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Son of God. The
foundation of all our security is Jesus Christ.
We may look at the same thought under somewhat different aspects. He is
the foundation for all our thinking and opinions, for all our belief
and our knowledge. 'In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge,' and whatsoever of solid fact men can grasp in their
thinkings in regard to all the most important facts and truths with
which they come into relation, is to be found in the life and death of
Jesus Christ, and in the truths which these reveal. He is the
foundation of all our knowledge of God, and of all our true knowledge
of ourselves, of all our true knowledge of duty, and all our true
knowledge of the relations between the present and the future, between
man and God.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account